


What is this Muppet Mascot that we see before us?

by BardicRaven



Category: Gritty (Mascots Anthropomorphic) - Fandom, Professional Sports Team Mascots (Anthropomorphic)
Genre: Extraterrestrials, Gen, sports mascots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21869599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: To the rest of the world, Gritty was a mascot like any other, if larger and more strange and less comprehensible (and more frightening) than many. And yet… if they had only known, a mascot like any other was the LAST thing that Gritty was.
Relationships: Gritty & Phillie Phanatic
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	What is this Muppet Mascot that we see before us?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Steelneko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steelneko/gifts).



To the rest of the world, Gritty was a mascot like any other, if larger and more strange and less comprehensible (and more frightening) than many. And yet… if they had only known, a mascot like any other was the LAST thing that Gritty was.

For one thing, while he held the job of mascot, he wasn’t wearing a costume. No, it was all him, all the time. The furr that looked like standard fake furr, was in fact, his actual furr. He was slick & subtle, so no one ever realized that they never saw him take off his costume, that he simply disappeared at the end of the day.

The story that they put out about his appearance was true enough, even if not the whole of the reality. They really HAD discovered him during a stadium upgrade, tho’ it was more the case that he had put himself there to be found than that they found him by accident.

Nothing Gritty did was accidental. He couldn't afford it to be. He had no desire to be picked apart to find out why he was the way he was. He simply wanted to celebrate the sport he had come to love.

Come to love, you ask? Well, space is wide, and telly transmissions go further than expected. And it is also a trait among more than humans to be curious about the Other. So when bootleg copies of this game called ‘hockey’ came around to his school, Gritty started watching them. He found he loved the sport, loved the way the puck flowed across the ice, the way the humans on offense and defense did what they did.

And he began to create a plan to get there and watch the game in person. It wasn’t easy – Earth was, after all, still a Younger Planet, humans not-always-listening, yes and not-quite-ready to know the truth about their Universe and how populated it truly was. Travel there, was, while not totally forbidden, still restricted to those who had specific business there.

Such as the xenoanthropological study of a human sport. Gritty got it done – the paperwork, the approval from his professors, the travel arrangements. The plan for how they were to enter in to this strange society. The plan to get back out again? That, he was not nearly so concerned about. He got away with it by explaining that plans change, events change, why waste time now on something that would likely not ever be?

And so he found himself hiding beneath a stadium, waiting to be discovered by the humans working there. Found himself being brought to team ownership, where he explained his love of the sport and how he’d be honored to be a mascot for the team.

Bemused, ownership said ‘yes’ and that was that.

Gritty was in.

* * *

He took his job very seriously, tho’ there were a few mishaps along the way, notably the time he slipped on the ice during one of his first appearances to the derision of crowd & sportscaster alike. Why does Philly have this creature representing them? was the kindest of the questions asked. Gritty worked harder to perfect his skills. He was not going to be cut from the team. He was determined about that.

Eventually, as such things do, the comments eased, to be replaced by a kind of fond confusion and then eventually, by a fierce pride and loyalty, which Gritty returned in full measure. When a member of the team was diagnosed with cancer, Gritty was there, showing support. When a member of the team was injured, Grittty was there, behind the scenes, offering what help & comfort he could. When a season ticket holder was in trouble, Gritty did what he could to cheer them up.

In short, Gritty became the mascot he’d hoped to be. And the mascot he felt deserved the honor that Philly had given him shortly after he’d revealed himself – that of a resolution passed by the city council stating that he honored the passion & spirit of the city.

Gritty was content, tho’ at the same time, he was forced to admit that he missed the company of his own kind. He understood that he dared not confide in any of the humans around him, dared not reveal that he wasn’t what they thought he was – a fake furr mascot suit donned by a human on Game Day and other assorted Team Events.

He understood it. He didn’t have to like it and indeed, he did not. But he liked the thought of leaving less, so continued on in his silent distance.

* * *

And then there was the day when there was a Philly-wide City Pride Day and he found himself alongside the other sports team mascots of the City.

Interesting to see what the humans found appropriate to represent their teams. Interesting, and then… then there was the Phanatic and Gritty knew that he was no longer alone.

He sent a thought over to the huge green-furred bird-like creature. _I know who you are._

_You do?_

_Well, at least what._

_Oh? And just what is that?_

_Not a human in a costume._

The big bird beak bobbled in surprise. The tongue extended, retracted, extended, retracted.

Finally, _Yes. How do you know?_

_Because I’m not a human in a costume either._

More surprise, covered up in a mascot move.

_You’re not?_

_No._ Then. _We should talk._

The tongue performed its perambulations a couple of more times, then, _Yes. Yes, we should._

* * *

And yes they did. They met in out of the way corners of their respective arenas at first. Chatted about this and that, comparing notes and experiences – both from their time here as mascots as well as times from their lives before they came to Earth.

Talked about their respective sports. Each of them was firmly convinced their sport was the best, of course, but they managed to keep it civil, or at least not beyond the acceptable. They made arrangements to visit the other’s arena, do multiple mascot performances at each other’s games.

Gritty loved the times he spent with the Phantic, tho’ he had to admit they likely wouldn't have been friends if they hadn’t come here to Earth. The differences, not to mention the distances, would have made it unlikely at best.

For here, for now, tho’, it didn’t matter. Gritty and the Phanatic had their sports, their teams, and their friendship.

And that was enough.

* * *


End file.
